Taiwan’s New Central Bank Chief Uncertain of State Cryptocurrency
The new governor of Taiwan’s central bank has expressed “uncertainty” over cryptocurrencies’ function as a payment instrument.
In a meeting with lawmakers this week, Taiwan’s new central bank governor Yang Chin-long was asked about the central bank’s current stance and outlook for cryptocurrencies at a time when a number of central banking counterparts around the world explore a blockchain-based state cryptocurrency issued by them.
According to Taiwanese publication Apple Daily , the central banker – having overseen the central bank’s crypto report late last year as deputy chief – claimed cryptocurrencies aren’t working as payments, citing their speculative nature.
More pointedly, the report suggests that the central banker “wanted to go in [that] direction [of payments]” but cryptocurrencies turned into commodities that exhibit price volatility under market speculation.
Yang further argued that no central bank has issued a statutory cryptocurrency just yet, with a number of endeavors still “in testing”. Taiwan’s central bank is currently keeping an eye on the trend and “doing experimentation” of its own at the moment. As things stand, the central banker stressed the authority isn’t exploring the issuance of Taiwanese dollars as a blockchain-based cryptocurrency.
During his ceremonial swear-in last month, Yang claimed the central bank will keep “an open mind” toward new technologies like big data AI and blockchain. With a focus on the country’s payments system, specifically, the central banker said the central bank would explore “the feasibility of enhancing the security and efficiency of payments systems using decentralized blockchain technology.”
Yang’s remarks this week follows those of Taiwan’s vice president of the executive branch of government Shih Jun-ji who suggested measures to manage the impact of cryptocurrencies by stating they should not be underestimated by the government.
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